1. Field of the Invention
Apparatuses consistent with the present invention relate to a microfluidic device, and more particularly, to a microfluidic device in which a process using a microfluidic chip can be automatically performed in a microfluidic structure formed in a platform, specifically, wherein an immune serum examination can be automatically performed using a biomolecule microarray chip.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a microfluidic structure of a microfluidic device includes a chamber storing a small amount of a fluid, a channel through which the fluid flows, a valve which can control flow of the fluid, and various functional units performing predetermined functions using the fluid. A lab-on-a chip is structured such that the microfluidic structure is formed in a chip-shaped substrate to perform a biochemical reaction examination including many treating and manipulating processes.
The microfluidic structure may require an operating pressure to transport a fluid. The operating pressure can be a capillary pressure or a pressure produced using a separate pump. Recently, disk-type microfluidic devices including disk-type microfluidic structures in which a fluid is transported using a centrifugal force for processes to be performed have been developed. Such a technique is called a lab compact disk (CD) or a lab-on a disk. However, the application range of the disk-type microfluidic devices is limited.
Recently, demands for microfluidic chip techniques, such as a biomolecule microarray chip technique, are increasing in medical and biotechnology fields. According to a biomolecule microarray chip technique, a plurality of biomolecule capture probes which can be specifically combined to different target materials are integrally bound to a chip-shaped substrate to detect a target material from a sample. The biomolecule capture probes may include a deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) having a known base sequence, an antibody specifically binding to a target antigen, and the like. When the biomolecule microarray chip is used in diagnosis or experiments, manual operations such as spotting or washing of a sample, are required to be performed by skilled technicians.
A method of forming a microarray on a compact disk to detect a target material is disclosed in US Patent Publication No. US 2002/0177144 titled “Detection and/or qauntification of a target molecule by a binding with a capture molecule fixed on the surface of a disk.” However, there is still a need to develop a microfluidic device efficiently using various biomolecule microarray chips, requiring less manual processes to be performed, having a short operating time, and generating fewer errors in test results using the device.